Standard Pacific Takes Quarterly Loss on Impairment Charges

Homebuilder Standard Pacific reported a third-quarter loss of $119.7 million, or $1.85 per share, after the closing bell last night. The firm took $223.5 million ($2.12 per share) in impairment costs due to inventory write-offs and joint venture and land deposits. Excluding after-tax impairment charges, earnings came out to 27 cents per share.

Revenue from homebuilding declined to $675.5 million from its year-ago total of $834.1 million, while gross margins on home sales plummeted to 0.9% from 19.2%. New home deliveries fell 25% during the 3-month period.

Analysts were expecting SPF to report a quarterly loss of $1.54 per share on revenue of $603 million. In yesterday's session, the homebuilder added nearly 1% to edge above its 20-day moving average. However, obstacles still loom overhead in the form of the shares' 10-week and 10-month trendlines.

Option traders were feeling relatively optimistic toward SPF ahead of its quarterly report; its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio checks in at 1.31, lower than 60% of other such readings taken during the past year. On the other hand, short interest crept 9.5% higher during the most recent reporting period, and now accounts for 38.5% of the stock's available float.